Smart Specialization - A Driver Of Incresing Competitiveness

Highlighted as a strategic instrument towards the targets of the Lisbon 2010 and Europe 2020 strategies, RDI specialisation has been a very frequent issue in the recent literature of the field. Many of the official European documents have also emphasized that a more functional, integrated and strong European Research Area requires world-class European research centres that would attract best resources for high quality research, through the mechanism of „smart specialisation”. Various and valid arguments have been made in favour of RDI specialisation. At the same time, some authors have warned on the potential pitfalls and weaknesses associated to specialisation, that would negatively bear on the flexibility of the European RDI system, on its adaptability and proper crisis response, on the functionality of the resource distribution mechanisms and on its attractiveness for international financial resources for R&D. Building on the literature review, the most recent hypothesis and statistical indicators, the present paper looks into the RDI specialisation in Romania, its intensity and depth, its structure and characteristics that should be taken into consideration for future policies and strategies.